The meaning of the Sunday Mass Readings for September 2026 is made clearest by Catholic doctrine. “It is clear therefore that in the supremely wise arrangement of God, Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others” (CCC 95[1]). Sacred Scripture at Mass cannot stand fully without the Magisterium. The Magisterium’s role in this supremely wise arrangement of God is to declare doctrine, which is the authoritative and unchanging clarification of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture that must be accepted as objectively true in order to be Catholic. What doctrines in the Catechism of the Catholic Church are takeaways from September’s Sunday Readings[2]?
September 6, Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Second Reading tells us “Love is the fulfillment of the law.” In essence, this means that the Two Great Commandments given by Jesus Christ fulfill the Ten Commandments given by Moses. Christ’s Two Great Commandments are: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (CCC 2055). The structure of the Catechism reflects this. The first three of the Ten Commandments are presented in the chapter entitled “You Shall Love the Lord Your God . . .” (CCC 2083-2195). The last seven of the Ten Commandments are presented in the chapter entitled “You Shall Love Your Neighbor . . .” (CCC 2196-2557). For more about the true meaning of love, see my takeaways from the Eleventh and Twelfth Sundays in Ordinary Time.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives the power to bind and loose. This power is “the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church” (CCC 553). Jesus gave it not only to Peter and his successors, who are the popes – as we saw with Papal Primacy in the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – but also to the Twelve Apostles and their successors, who are the bishops (CCC 1444), as we see in today’s Gospel. All current bishops have been ordained bishops by bishops who were ordained bishops . . . in a line going back to bishops who were ordained bishops by the Apostles.
Apostolic Succession is the name for the doctrine and the historical reality that the bishops are the successors of the Twelve Apostles (CCC 77).
The bishops in union with the pope make up the Magisterium, which is the ultimate authority Christ Himself established for the Church (CCC 85-87). Why be Catholic? Because the Catholic Church alone has the Magisterium. No Protestant denomination has Apostolic Succession, and every Protestant denomination rejects Papal Primacy. While the Eastern Orthodox Church has Apostolic Succession, it does rejects Papal Primacy. Let us note that the first Christians were Catholics because they accepted the realities of Apostolic Succession and Papal Primacy, along with Sacred Tradition and Transubstantiation (although they would not have used these terms).
We should obey bishops when they teach doctrine – the content of the Catholic Faith. Like the pope, no bishop has the authority to contradict any doctrine, and no bishop is infallible whenever he teaches that which is not doctrine. For example, a bishop teaches discipline (Church rules). Bishops have the authority to change diocesan discipline as long as that discipline is in harmony with discipline taught by the pope, just as pastors have the authority to change parish discipline as long as it is in harmony with discipline taught by his bishop. New discipline might be better or worse than previous discipline, although Catholics must obey it. Bishops teach other things as well, such spirituality, prudential judgments on social issues, etc. We are not required to obey them when they teach anything other than doctrine and discipline. For the authority of the bishop, see CCC 74-100, 888-896, 1555-1561, and 2032-2040. One mistaken extreme is treating every word from every bishop, pope, and priest as though it were doctrine. The other mistaken extreme is agreeing only with doctrines and obeying only disciplines we feel like and still calling ourselves “Catholic.”
The Catechism cites today’s Gospel to assert that Christians must witness to the Gospel in words as well as deeds (CCC 2472). The best words are the words of Catholic doctrine and other words in harmony with it. The best deeds are deeds required by Catholic doctrine and other deeds in harmony with it.
- From the Responsorial Psalm[3] (Psalms 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9): Ps 95:1-6 is cited in CCC 2628; Ps 95:7-8 in CCC 2659; 95:7 in CCC 1165; and 95:9 in CCC 2119.
- From the Second Reading (Romans 13:8-10): Rom 13:8-10 is cited in CCC 1824 and 2196; Rom 13:8 in CCC 2845; and Rom 13:9-10 in CCC 2055.
- From the Alleluia (2 Corinthians 5:19): 2 Cor 5:19 is cited in CCC 433 and 620.
- From the Gospel (Matthew 18:15-20): Mt 18:16 is cited in CCC 2472; Mt 18:18 in CCC 553 and 1444; and Mt 18:20 in CCC 1088 and 1373.
September 13, Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself,” from today’s Second Reading, means that “the least of our acts done in charity redounds to the profit of all. Every sin harms” everyone in the Church (CCC 953).
In obedience to Our Lord’s powerful words on forgiveness in today’s Gospel, there is “no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive” (CCC 982). The Catechism adds, however, “provided his repentance is honest” and he “turns away from sin.” For more on the forgiveness of sins, see CCC 1422-1498.
On our own need to forgive, the Catechism challenges us to have a heart that ”turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession” (CCC 2843). Yet the Catechism also affirms that it “is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense” (CCC 2843). So, Our Lord does not require us to deny our emotions when we have been mistreated or to pretend that we were never mistreated. Because Catholic doctrine includes the right to self-defense (CCC 2263-2264), being forgiving still means we can defend ourselves. Because Catholic doctrine obligates those who have mistreated others to give restitution (CCC 2412, 2487), those who mistreat us are still obligated to give restitution to us, just as we are obligated to give restitution to those we have mistreated. Because Catholic doctrine calls us to be prudent (see CCC 1806), we should be prudent when we forgive. Being prudent might mean sometimes forgiving restitution and sometimes requiring restitution – for example, even though Saint John Paul II went to the prison cell of his would-be assassin to forgive him, the pope did not call for him to be set free from prison.
The Catechism applies today’s Gospel to family life by teaching that every member “should be generous and tireless in forgiving one another for offenses, quarrels, injustices, and neglect” (CCC 2227).
- From the Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12): Ps 103 is cited in CCC 304.
- From the Second Reading (Romans 14:7-9): Rom 14:7 is cited in CCC 953; and Rom 14:9 in CCC 668.
- From the Alleluia (John 13:34): Jn 13:34 is cited in CCC 782, 1823, 1970, 2822, and 2842.
- From the Gospel (Matthew 18:21-35): Mt 18:21-22 is cited in CCC 982, 2227, and 2845; and Mt 18:23-35 in CCC 2843.
September 20, Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Responsorial Psalm proclaims “The Lord is . . . compassionate to all his works.” This means that although “God loves all his creatures,” there is a “hierarchy of creatures . . . from the less perfect to the more perfect” (CCC 342). “Man is the summit of the Creator’s work” (CCC 343). While humans must “respect the particular goodness of every creature” (CCC 339), nothing in nature is the equal of a human person, has the dignity of a person, or has rights.
A takeaway from the Second Reading is that death has a positive meaning because it completes Baptism: “through Baptism, the Christian has already ‘died with Christ’ sacramentally, in order to live a new life; and if we die in Christ’s grace, physical death completes this ‘dying with Christ’ and so completes our incorporation into him in his redeeming act” (CCC 1010). “Therefore the Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul’s” (CCC 1011).
Catholics obey the Second Reading’s instruction to “conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ” when they realize “their new dignity” as “children of God” (CCC 1692). True dignity means personal “conscience and reason should not be set in opposition to the moral law or the Magisterium of the Church” (CCC 2039), which “sets out the principles of moral life valid for all men” (CCC 2033).
- From the Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18): Ps 145:3 is cited in CCC 300; and Ps 145:9 in CCC 295 and 342.
- From the Second Reading (Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a): Phil 1:21 is cited in CCC 1010 and 1698; Phil 1:23 in CCC 1005, 1011, 1021, and 1025; and Phil 1:27 in CCC 1692.
September 27, Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Second Reading tells us to have “the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.” This means “conforming [our] thoughts, words and actions” to Him (CCC 1694). To connect with a takeaway from last week, true conscience is accepting and applying Catholic doctrine to our situations, not choosing whether to live out a doctrine. Having the same attitude as Christ begins with Baptism. Baptism is not whatever someone wants it to be; it is initiation into the “fullness of the means of salvation” (CCC 380) found only in practicing the Catholic Faith the rest of one’s life.
In our culture, where feeling good is what matters most, it might be important to note that the Catechism relates the Second Reading to our own participation in Christ’s kingly office. This means that we participate in Christ’s kingly office by having kingship over our own bodies, emotions, and desires and thus having “royal power” over ourselves so that we will not let ourselves “be imprisoned by sin, or thrown headlong into wickedness” and so we receive Jesus’ “gift of royal freedom” (CCC 908). Our spontaneous emotions and desires are not in and of themselves good or evil, but they must be governed by our free will, which in turn must be governed by our mind’s acceptance of Catholic doctrine, in order to avoid sin and become truly free (CCC 1763-1770).
- From the Second Reading (Philippians 2:1-11 or 2:1-5): Phil 2:1 is cited in CCC 2842; Phil 2:4 in CCC 2635; Phil 2:5-8 in CCC 461; Phil 2:5 in CCC 520, 1694, and 2842; Phil 2:6-11 in CCC 2641 and 2667; Phil 2:6 in CCC 449; Phil 2:7 in CCC 472, 602, 705, 713, 876, and 1224; Phil 2:8-9 in CCC 908; Phil 2:8 in CCC 411, 612, and 623; Phil 2:9-11 in CCC 449 and 2812; Phil 2:9-10 in CCC 434; Phil 2:10-11 in CCC 201; and Phil 2:10 in CCC 633 and 635.
- From the Gospel (Matthew 21:28-32): Matt 21:28-32 is cited in CCC 546; and Matt 21:32 in CCC 535.
[1] CCC abbreviates Catechism of the Catholic Church. Any number after it is the number of a paragraph in the Catechism. For example, “CCC 95” means paragraph 95 of the Catechism.
[2] There are too many references in the Catechism to the verses in a month of Sunday Mass Readings to cover all the connected doctrines, so I use my best judgment to select which verses and doctrines to cover in a column which may not exceed 2,000 words. The bullet points allow for further exploration of how Catholic doctrine clarifies Sacred Scripture.
[3] If a Reading is not listed, then none of its verses is cited by the CCC.
